Metolius River Bull (pic)

[greenbuttskunk]

I was just going through my hard drive cleaning out old jpgs and such. Came across this picture. It's a nice fat healthy bull from the metolius, taken two summers ago. I fish this one stretch that usully has at least half a dozen holding out in the current, in plain sight. Get a big gnarly bunny leech fly in front of them, and they will usually try to kill and eat it. We took the quick picture, and back he went, unharmed.
GBS

[PittsburghD]

Have yet to hit a bull on a fly. Back in the day we used to chuck Rapalas into the Metolius and hit it big near Billy Chinook and slayed 'em. Haven't been back for awhile.


-=--D

[greenbuttskunk]

believe it or not, they are not that tough to catch. Once you locate a school of them, you can target them. I've usually found 3-6 fish in a spot holding out in the current. Really gets your heart beating!! I like to tie a white bunny leech
with the barbless hook inverted, thus becoming
very snag free. I pick out the biggest fish and cast well above it and mend the line. I try to move the offering so it drifts within 1-3 feet from the fish. It's an awesome sight to see them cruise over and nail the leech. On a 5-6 wt. in current, it's a long tiring battle. They don't make long blistering runs like a bow, or jump much. What they do though, hold out in the current like their name.
They are like a pit bull holding on to a stick.
They are such beautiful fish and so much fun when you fin a school with no others around. I found a stretch a few years ago that has always held a good number, and it's a stretch that seems to be overlooked. I won't likely get out this summer, so email me if you want more info and the fly pattern or location. Please rember to handle thse fish carefully and release unharmed. They are a wonderful resource to have in that river.

[ 06-16-2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: greenbuttskunk ]

[garyk]

Hey GBS,

That's a nice one.

We caught two Bulls this Saturday, relatively small resident ones (as opposed to those that grow large down in Lk.Billy Chinook and then come up to spawn), the larger being about 21". I'll try to find time tommorow to post the pics a along with the rest of our 4-day Metolius report.

The good news for those of you wanting catch Bull Trout is the Metolius spawning counts have increased tremendously. If anyone's interested I can sift through all my "fish paper" and post the results of Don Ratliff's spawning counts.

[TillamookChinook]

Very nice fish, GBS.

I have yet to hook up with a bull trout on the Metolius. It doesn't seem to have been on my route for several years. I did read an article once about fishing huge streamers or mouse patterns for the bulls on the Metolius so I asked the guy in the Camp Sherman fly shop about how to fish them. He sold me a mouse pattern and said to just splash it loudly onto the water over a deep hole. Which I did and immediately had a hit from a 16" fish in the middle of the river. It did not hook up, and I have never had another strike on the mouse or streamers there, but it did make me a believer.

Must be time to go back there.

[drbfish]

NICE fish!!

Man, do I want one of them! I only fish the Met about three times a year and just have not given it a try (nor have I seen them sitting in the holes) but after seeing a pic like that I am ready to put in my time.